The present invention relates to a method and a device for determining the compression of crop material.
Publication EP 0931 446 A1 makes known a measuring device for determining crop material- and/or conveyor-specific parameters in an agricultural working machine. The measuring device is located directly on the discharge blower of a forage harvester. The measuring device engages directly in the crop material flow and, based on its direct contact with the conveyed crop material, it measures a parameter of the crop material, e.g., the moisture content. The disadvantage of this embodiment, however, is that the parameter measurement is highly dependent on the crop material throughput. In addition, it does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the compression property and, therefore, the level of compression force that must be applied to compress the crop material in an optimal manner.
Publication DE 102 30 475 A1 discloses a sample extraction device with which crop material is removed from the flow of crop material. The samples obtained in this manner—which are independent of the throughput—can be used to develop calibrations of NIR measurement systems. Information about quality-related parameters of the crop material, such as moisture content, can also be obtained in this manner. The problem of determining the compression property of the crop material is not solved by the embodiment disclosed in DE 102 30 475 A1.
The compression properties of crop material not only decisively influence the on-line sensing of crop material throughputs, they are also very significant in terms of optimizing crop material compressing processes, as is required, e.g., for storing crop material in silos. The stability of a silage therefore depends to a significant extent on the compression of the crop material to be ensilaged. If, during ensilage, the newly cut crop material is not compressed permanently and thoroughly, residual oxygen becomes enclosed in the individual layers of crop material, which can ultimately result in the growth of undesired organisms such as yeast and fungi, and to improper fermentation, which, in turn, results in a considerable reduction in the nutritional content of the silage. The compression force to be applied depends on the compressibility of the harvested crop material, which depends, in particular, on parameters such as moisture content or the length of cut of the crop material.